As Matt said, this is meant to inspire discussion...

There is no rule that says the starting pin needs to be set at the starting signal. It needs to be set at the prep signal.

There is no rule that says any other mark needs to be in place at any given time (other than fairness). To appreciate the reason for this, we need to think outside of our little box.

Some leadmine classes like really long courses and long race times. When the first leg is 1.8nm or more away, other than for risk management (which is always a valid concern), why would the mark need to be in the water at the start? You won't even be able to see it for another 15-20 minutes after the start.

Realistically for our smaller courses, and especially if you're posting direction and distance on the signal boat, we know where the mark is going to be, and we typically set it while in sequence.

As for mutiny, I was also reading this into Matt's initial post: Unless it's a rescue, the dude on the pin boat had better not go anwhere (especially up to the top of the course) without checking with me first. Of course, I most likely would have asked him first. Been there, and it's amazing how quickly "gear tangling issues" go away when you send a second boat to help...

Real question is, what did Matt do to piss of the weather mark team?

Mike